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Japanese auto companies are bailing out of international motorsports, trying to save money during the global auto crunch.
Last week Toyota dropped out of Formula One racing, two days after tire supplier Bridgestone did, too. Honda quit the series last December. No Japanese teams remain in F1.
At the end of 2008, Subaru maker Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki withdrew from the FIA World Rally Championship. And in July, Fuji International Speedway, owned by Toyota, surrendered hosting rights for the Japanese Grand Prix in 2010 and beyond.
The moves reflect the absence of auto profits. When Honda pulled out of F1 racing, it estimated the move could save nearly $1 billion.
Toyota didn't divulge its annual F1 budget, but some think it's around $300 million. That was a tidy sum for a carmaker that posted losses last year--both in its financials and on the track. Since joining Formula One in 2002, Toyota hasn't won a single race.
(Source: Automotive News)
The Yamaha EC-f is an electric motorcycle concept designed for ease of use.
(Credit: Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.)
Just as carmakers develop electric cars, motorcycle manufacturers also see the writing on the wall, showing off a collection of electric bikes at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The Tokyo Motor Show has always played host to a substantial display of motorcycles, and this year is no different--except that the highlights of the show all have a green angle. Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki all brought concepts to the show that could spell the future of riding, and possibly a new way for future commuters to get to work.
Check out photos of electric scooters and motorcycles at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
(Credit:
Suzuki)
Suzuki is an automaker that we don't hear too much from in the U.S. However, when we do hear from it--such as with the two SX4s we've tested--we generally like what it has to say. So when we got word that a plug-in hybrid version of one of the smallest Suzukis, the Swift, would be on display at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, our interest was piqued.
The Suzuki Swift plug-in hybrid can be classified as a series gas-electric hybrid or an extended-range electric vehicle, depending on who you ask. The front wheels are turned by a 54 kW (72.4 horsepower) electric motor, which gets its supply of electrons from an array of lithium ion batteries. The battery pack is mounted in the center tunnel with rather novel window cut into the center console, displaying one of the cells.
The Swift PHEV's center tunnel mounted battery, visible through a cutout.
(Credit: Suzuki)
Like any good concept, the Swift PHEV has cool looking seats made of odd materials.
(Credit: Suzuki)When the batteries run low, a small 600cc gasoline generator kicks in (a la Chevy Volt) to power the electric motor and keep the batteries topped off.
Range and fuel economy data has not yet been supplied, but stay tuned to our continuing coverage of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show for more details as they emerge.
As we've seen this week, some automobiles generally referred to as "lemons" or "clunkers" find new life as modified street racing cars or as nostalgia novelty acts. But some cars are so lame and unattractive that they're forever known as a joke vehicle. Probably the best example is presented here for you today in the form of the Yugo 45.
The Yugo is a crappy little compact that was foisted upon the American market from Europe, and was belittled so much in the States that in 1991 the Yugo couldn't even break 4,000 units sold. The car was such an automotive punchline that listeners of NPR's "Car Talk" proclaimed it the "worst car of the millennium". (As a sidenote, I remember that my brother once stumped Click and Clack during a phone call to Car Talk regarding his dysfunctional 1988 Suzuki Samurai).
This highly entertaining video features a snarky British dude first driving an old compact Volvo which he shortly crashes into a tree. Then he gets behind the wheel of a Yugo 45, where he makes light of its lacking ability to make 60 miles per hour, its braking capability, and the car eventually gets passed on the road by kids on bicycles. After all the insult and injury, the bloke breaks out a window and then breaks out an artillery tank that opens fire on the poor, pitiful Yugo out in an open field...seems like a fitting end to not just this car, but to theme of putting clunkers in general out of their misery by any means necessary.
Suzuki's latest incarnation of its SX4 is a hot hatchback.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
After Suzuki launched its SX4 in 2006, the car became so successful that the company continues to offer variants, with the 2010 Suzuki SX4 SportBack being the latest. The car was originally offered with standard all-wheel drive, but that version is now called the SX4 Crossover. The new SportBack version is motivated by just the front wheels and is intended as more of a city car. Suzuki let us spend a week with a preproduction version that had been fitted with some suspension enhancements.
We previously reviewed the 2009 Suzuki SX4 Sport, a front-wheel-drive sedan version. The SX4 SportBack comes in with a hatchback body and a new automatic transmission. The SX4 SportBack we tested lacked any real tech options, just having a stereo with a CD changer and satellite radio. But, as we saw with the SX4 Sport, Suzuki will offer its SuzukiTRIP navigation option, an integrated Garmin Nuvi 760 that offers live traffic reports and Bluetooth phone support among its key features. The navigation system has only a 4.8-inch screen, but Suzuki does a good job of mounting it in the car and integrating it with the audio system.
Cabin tech was limited to this basic stereo in the SX4 Sportback.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)The only feature in this SX4 SportBack that could be considered tech was the stereo, having as its sources a six-disc in-dash changer capable of reading MP3 and WMA CDs, satellite radio, and an auxiliary input. Music plays through an eight-speaker audio system, complete with center channel and subwoofer. This setup proved generally tinny, although we appreciated the subtle richness added by the subwoofer.
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Suzuki reportedly will sell a hybrid Kizashi sedan in North America in 2011.
(Credit: Suzuki/Automotive News)LOS ANGELES -- American Suzuki Motor Corp. says its Japanese parent is working on a hybrid version of the new Kizashi midsize sedan.
The confirmation from spokesman Jeff Holland followed a report in the Nikkei business daily that said Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to sell a gasoline-electric edition of the Kizashi in North America in 2011, using a system developed with General Motors Co.
Holland gave no rollout date and did not say whether GM would supply the hybrid technology. The standard four-cylinder Kizashi goes on sale this year.
Suzuki product planners have said projected sales for the Kizashi aren't likely to justify investment in a V-6 engine. V-6s account for 30 percent or more of the volume in competitors' midsize sedan lineups. A hybrid four-cylinder could give Suzuki a cost advantage over rival V-6 entries.
(Source: Automotive News)
Built at Suzuki's brand-new manufacturing facility in Sagara, Japan, the 2010 Kizashi is equipped with a standard 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder engine offering a more potent standard engine than many competitive best-sellers. The engine employs both an aluminum block and cylinder heads, providing a lightweight installation; aluminum pistons with low tensile force rings deliver improved power and efficiency. Dropped-forged connecting rods, rotating on a forged steel crankshaft, contribute to the inline four's durability, and a balancer shaft delivers improved engine balance and reduced noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
Tailored for the driving enthusiast, Kizashi's bold and aggressive stance is complemented by available 18-inch alloy wheels; contemporary styling--with its lean proportion and minimal front overhang--injects the sophistication appropriate to a performance-oriented sport sedan.
Driving enthusiasts will appreciate Kizashi's sporty and elegant instrument panel, while consumers seeking a luxury sedan will be pleased with the vehicle's available leather seating and high-density foam.
Y'know, I dig cars and car racing. But I also appreciate motorcycles and bike racing as well. And I think I'm long overdue to show a little love for motorcycle racing. And to keep with this week's salute to the women of motorsport racing, I have selected a hot vid of Pro Stock Motorcycle superstar Angelle Sampey.
Besides her status as a female in a male dominated sport, Angelle Sampey is a rare breed in the bike racing world. She owns a record of consecutive qualifying races starting with her debut in 1996, leaving her previous career as a nurse in a cloud of dust. In addition, Sampey is one of only two women in NHRA history to have over ten event wins and three championships in her division of Pro Stock Motorcycle.
One of Angelle's biggest career accomplishments is her Pro Stock Motorcycle time-setting elapsed time record run of 6.871 seconds. Sampey accomplished this feat first in 2007 at an NHRA event in New Jersey riding her trademark Suzuki bike. This video here further cements this feat as no mere fluke, seeing Sampey once again clock in under the 7 second mark, and handily defeating her opponent. Her Pro Stock Motorcycle time record was only broken back in March of this year by Matt Smith, and then topped just a little while later by Andrew Hines. Still, Angelle Sampey has made her mark as a woman in sports and a future legend in motorsports.
The Ritz, known as Splash in Europe, is available this month and is positioned to compete with Hyundai's i10 and i20, and Skoda's Fabia.
NEW YORK--Booming sales of the Suzuki SX4 have created a potential problem for dealers: a car shortage.
Suzuki sold 4,795 SX4s in March, a 49.6 percent increase over March 2008.
Koichi Suzuki, executive vice president of American Suzuki Motor Corp., said SX4 production was increased in Japan but U.S. dealers won't receive the units until mid- or late May at the earliest.
"There will be a small shortage" until fresh inventory arrives, Suzuki said here before the opening of the New York auto show this month.
He credited increased advertising in March, including the "Mightier than the Mini" campaign, for the spike in SX4 sales. Those ads compare the SX4 to the Mini Cooper and tout the SX4's available all-wheel drive.
In March, Suzuki offered buyers a choice of incentives up to $1,000 or loans ranging from 7.9 to 10.9 percent.
In March, sedans accounted for about three-quarters of SX4 sales, and hatchbacks accounted for the rest.
In other news, Koichi Suzuki said:
--The number of dealers has dropped to about 400 this year from 460 last year, and further attrition is likely this year.
--The automaker will offer hybrid powertains, but those models are three to four years away.
--The sales target for the recently introduced Suzuki Equator pickup is "a few hundred units per month." The automaker will rely on a print campaign and $500 incentive program offered to the owners of Suzuki motorcycles and boat motors.
(Source: Automotive News)
